


It was only a second

by Jaegerbox



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series, persona - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Shukita - Freeform, Well...kinda, fic in which akira is mortally injured, i came up with this idea at 3am i'm so sorry, will probably add more tags as it goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2018-12-25 12:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12035880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaegerbox/pseuds/Jaegerbox
Summary: It had only been a fraction of a second, but a fraction of a second too late.Adventuring in Mementos goes horribly wrong.Hiatus due to uni





	1. Chapter 1

It had only been a fraction of a second, but a fraction of a second too late.

The Phantom Thieves had been up against a rather formidable foe; Reaper. They had been wandering Mementos and had very much outstayed their welcome. The rattling of chains had echoed throughout the endless, dark tunnels. The Thieves had gone into a panic, trying desperately to evade the ghastly shadow; they were down on their luck.  
In a quick motion, they made their formation; Joker leading the hunt. He initiated an attack with Eigaon to little effect.

“I’m not seeing any weaknesses! Careful, this one is strong.” Oracle’s tinny voice rang out over the navigator.  
“Tch.”  
Panther attacked with Agidyne, again to little damage, followed up by Fox using a physical attack; if anything this appeared to anger the Reaper. Mona attempted to use a wind attack but to much the same effect as the rest of the group.  
“His defence is incredibly high!” Mona warned, narrowly avoiding a bullet whizzing past him. “Wha-! He’s fast too!”  
“How troublesome…” Fox muttered under his breath.  
The Reaper let out a spine tingling laugh that bounced off the walls, Panther froze in fear; her whole body trembling, eyes wide, a quiet “no…” left her mouth.  
“It’s okay Panther, we’ll think of something.” Joker reassured, readying himself for another attack from Reaper.

 

The fight waged on, various members of the Thieves swapped with each other to try and increase their chances of defeating the damn monster; Joker remained throughout each swap. They were getting tired, no matter how many attacks they threw at the Reaper his health never appeared to go down. All of them were wounded one way or another, grazes, cuts, and bruises adorned their bodies; fatigue was setting in fast.  
“Joker, we should retreat!” Oracle’s panicked voice crackled. “We can’t keep this up any longer!”  
“Right! Everyone we’re pulling out, watch his movements!” Joker ordered, everyone nodded and remained on guard; waiting for another attack. Joker narrowed his eyes, watching Reaper intently.  
“He’s going to attack…” Oracle cautioned.  
Joker saw the Reaper twitch ever so slightly, he jumped out of the way of an oncoming attack.

 

At least he thought he had.

 

He heard the frantic screams of his teammates, they sounded so far away as time slowed down around him. Only then did the harsh realisation dawn on him as he heard Reaper cackle.

_“Me just want to hear your screams!”_

Joker felt a searing pain shoot straight through his abdomen and his back, an alarmingly warm feeling dampened his shirt. With a strangled cry he pushed the Reaper away, removing the blade that had impaled him, his legs gave out from under him as he collided with the ground. Another raucous laugh bellowed from Reaper. The Thieves ran to his side, Panther shrieking his name, Skull cursing the Reaper and ready to attack it head on.  
“Joker!” Oracle screamed over the nav.  
Mona had transformed into a van. “Hurry!” He urged them as they hastily carried Joker in. Queen took the wheel and sped off, Reaper trailed in close pursuit.  
“He’s gaining on us! He’s gaining on us!” Panther freaked, shaking violently.  
Fox had started to apply pressure to Joker’s deep wound, cursing under his breath as more blood seeped through. Mona cast Diarama to aid healing, it healed the surface of Joker’s wounds but the bleeding continued inside. Joker began to shake, whimpering and gritting his teeth against the pain. He closed his eyes in a feeble attempt to block out the raw ache he felt within his core, eyes snapping back open to catch his breath; desperately looking around.  
He looked so lost and frightened.

Queen drove them to a safe platform, Skull and Fox lifted Joker out and laid him on the ground. More attempts at healing him were tried but none were working. Joker’s breathing was now incredibly laboured, a cold sweat had broken out all over his body and his vision became incredibly obscured and blotchy. He attempted to roll onto his side, the urge to vomit rising. Bracing himself weakly, he expelled the contents of his stomach, coughing violently followed by a gurgling choking sound, more liquid spilled onto the floor; except this liquid was crimson.  
“Blood?” Noir gasped. “No, no this isn’t good!”  
Joker had another vomiting spell, gagging on the bile that rose in his throat, only for his chest to be heaving as he frantically gulped down air; voice ragged with each intake of breath.  
He fell back onto his back, wanting to recoil in on himself as he began to violently shake; worse than in the van. More whimpers escaped his lips, his eyes barely remained open as an intense pressure crushed his head making him want to scream, his hearing became muffled; it was as if he were being wrapped in a sheet of plastic, only the sounds of metal rang out in his ears.  
“He’s going into shock, we need to get him back.” Queen tried to remain calm, but the edge under her voice was all too apparent.  
“I’ll get you out of there, just hold on!” Oracle frantically started pressing at buttons and screens from within her Persona. 

 

Within seconds the Phantom Thieves were transported to the streets of Yongen-Jaya.

“Huh? Shouldn’t we be back at Shibuya?” Ryuji questioned.  
“It was an emergency!” Futaba shouted. She looked over to Akira who was looking no better than when they had left. “A-Akira?”  
Akira slumped against Yusuke who proceeded to pick him up, eyes widening as he held tightly onto the boy.  
“He’s going cold.” His voice was barely a whisper.  
Everyone’s blood turned to ice, fear etched onto their faces.  
“There’s a clinic close by, we’ll take him there!” Futaba asserted, slowly crumbling under the pressure.  
Without a moment’s hesitation they all ran to the clinic.

“Takemi!” Makoto’s panicked voice called out. “Takemi it’s an emergency!”  
The punk doctor rose from her seat, alarmed at the ruckus. When her eyes fell on the limp form of Akira, her eyes widened; without hesitation she had him on the examination bed, checking his vitals the best she could with her current equipment.  
“What happened?” Her voice was even with a clear authoritative tone lacing it.  
“We were in a fight…” Ryuji started, everyone looked to him; worried he would reveal their identities.  
“You were doing your Phantom Thieves duties.” Takemi stated as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Akira’s arm.  
“How do you-“  
“That doesn’t matter now. What happened?”  
Makoto gave a sigh, mustering up as much confidence as she had she gave a concise account of the events.  
“We tried healing him, but no matter what we did nothing would stop the bleeding. He went into shock before we got here.”  
Takemi rolled in her chair over to the phone on her desk, quickly punching in numbers; holding it up to her ear the same authoritative voice came out.  
“This is Doctor Tae Takemi, I have a patient in urgent need of an ambulance and acute medical assistance; internal haemorrhaging in the abdomen, unresponsive, weak pulse, still breathing. Yes, Yongen-Jaya. Two minutes.” She placed the phone back down, turning to face the group.  
“Two minutes for the ambulance, one was already in the area. He’ll be lucky if he makes it.”

 

Everyone fell silent, except for Futaba who was kneeling by the examination bed; gripping at the side of it with all her strength, tears streaming down her face.  
“Don’t leave us Akira! Please! Don’t-!” She sobbed harder, her wails causing a knot to form in the group’s stomach.  
Hearing sirens and a vehicle come to a stop outside the clinic, Yusuke walked over to Futaba and wrapped his arms around her; pulling her away from Akira.  
“No! Let go!” She thrashed about in Yusuke’s arms but his iron grip remained.  
“Futaba…” He spoke lowly, voice cracking. “Please.”  
Futaba stilled, allowing herself to be moved away.

Two paramedics rushed in with a stretcher, wasting no time they had lifted Akira onto it, whisking him through the clinic and into the back of the ambulance. The sirens started up again as the ambulance pulled away into the main road and off towards the closest hospital.  
There was a moment of silence before Takemi spoke up.  
“Go to the hospital and wait for news. Let his guardian know about what has happened too.” She sounded stern but her face told another story, her eyes were filled with a sad glimmer; brows knitted together.  
“Thank you for everything, Takemi.” Makoto bowed deeply, the others all gave their own bows; some less angled than others, Ryuji merely nodded his head. With that they shuffled out of the clinic.

 

The group convened in the street outside the clinic.  
“So… what do we do now?” Ryuji asked, anxious to make eye contact with anyone.  
“I guess the respectable thing would be to tell Boss…” Ann answered, looking down at the floor, gripping at her jacket.  
“Yes, we should do that.” Makoto agreed. With a unanimous nod, they walked towards Leblanc. Hoping no patrons were visiting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira is rushed to hospital and the rest of the Phantom Thieves anxiously await news of their leader's health.

Sojiro had been idly cleaning down the surfaces in Leblanc, few patrons had visited today so he had bided his time with a newspaper; the hum of the TV served as background noise for the otherwise quiet café. Scratching his goatee, he proceeded to go to the sink and wash some of the dishes; listening in on a chat show which he wasn’t particularly interested in.  
He heard the bell jingle followed by multiple footsteps that came to a halt not far from the entrance. 

“Odd…” He thought.

The heavy atmosphere that clung to the teenagers as they walked through the café entrance was suffocating, Sojiro looked up from drying a cup; noting the poignant aura surrounding them.  
“What happened?” He asked, eyeing the group, unable to locate the curly haired teen he had taken in. “Where’s Akira?”  
“Akira… he…” Futaba started, breaking down once more; Haru pulled the young girl towards her; stroking her hair gently as Futaba cried into her shirt, trying her best to calm her down.  
“What happened to him?” Sojiro demanded, seeing Futaba so distraught brought out his parental side. He cared deeply for her, and as a result of Akira and his friend’s meddling; became very fond of Akira.  
“He… he was in an accident… in that other world.” Makoto spoke up once more, her calming voice carried across the café. “We took him to Takemi, now… he’s in an ambulance. We don’t even know if he’ll make it.” Her voice wavered as she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back the tears.  
“We tried everything we could…” Ann added, scuffing her feet on the floor, refusing to make eye contact.

 

Sojiro placed the cup down onto the counter, he brought a hand up to his forehead and frowned deeply; sighing before composing himself. Sure, he thought of Akira as a nuisance when he first took him in, just another problem child who would contribute nothing to society, but as he got to know the boy, he realised just how compassionate he was, how he would silently listen to everyone’s problems without judgement, would ensure his friends were in good health; even protecting them from harm’s way. Sojiro knew that the kid wasn’t all that bad when he first brought his friends over to Leblanc, this opinion only solidified when he took Futaba under his wing to ensure that she was safe and happy; in a way he had begun to see Akira as his own son. Hearing that he had been involved in an accident tore Sojiro’s heart up.

“I can drive three of you to the hospital, the rest of you will have to get the train.” His voice was low, attempting to hold a semblance of parental authority.  
“I’ll go with you…” Futaba murmured. “Inari too.”  
Yusuke merely nodded his head, not even having the heart to reply.  
“Then I’ll go too.” Ann spoke up. “Morgana you can sit in my bag.”  
“Understood, Lady Ann.” Morgana trotted up to Ann who had knelt down and opened her bag, Morgana jumped in and made himself comfortable for the journey.  
“That leaves myself, Haru, and Ryuji to get the train.” Makoto stated. “We’ll see you there.” With that she had left the café, the other two following not far behind.  
“Let’s go.” Sojiro said as he walked from behind the counter, grabbing his keys, hat, and jacket. The other teens left Leblanc and waited for Sojiro to lock up, following him to his car.

 

The drive was filled with deathly silence.

\---

Akira lay on the stretcher in the ambulance, his eyes had drifted open if only for a moment; the bright clinical lights burning his eyes. His blurred gaze groggily looked around, the paramedics were but a blur, he could feel the tightness of the blood pressure cuff around his arm, the stickiness of the ECG pads, a light sting in his hand and a red line rising up from it; followed by a large red blotchy blur.  
“Kurusu? Hey buddy, hold on okay? We’re nearly there.” One of the paramedics spoke calmly to him, Akira felt a strange comfort from hearing those words. In the Metaverse he had felt that he was going to die, at the clinic he had lost all sense of self and his surroundings, now, in a haze of adrenaline and his body’s desperate attempts to cling on to what little time he had left, he felt that perhaps there was hope.  
His eyes felt heavy once more, the darkness on the edges of his vision intruded his line of sight; like thread weaving his eyelids shut.  
A skip in his heartbeat.  
The sickening heaviness that followed.  
Each beat becoming slower than the last.  
“Kurusu!”

_No, wait. Please!_

\---

Makoto, Ryuji, and Haru waited in the entrance of the hospital for the others, looking round nervously, shifting from one foot to the next, cracking knuckles, wringing wrists; anything to keep them occupied and stop their minds from wandering.  
“Think they’ll be here soon?” Ryuji asked, his usual grin replaced with a worried frown, hands shoved in his pockets as he kicked at the ground.  
“Traffic must be bad.” Makoto commented, looking ahead towards the drop off point; although her eyes weren’t really focussing on anything, unblinking, she watched as shapes of people left cars and walked past.  
“Ah, they’re here!” Haru exclaimed, her sweet voice breaking Makoto and Ryuji out of their trances.

Futaba almost barrelled into Ryuji in her frantic hurry, latching onto his arm for some kind of grounding.  
“Woah, c-calm down Futaba.” He stammered.  
“Where’s Boss?” Makoto asked Ann and Yusuke as they approached.  
“He said he’s going to find somewhere to park and will meet up with us later.” Ann replied, her voice sounded a little chirpier than before, but her worry spilled into it clear as day. “Hey Morgana.” She spoke softly. “You okay in there?”  
“I’m perfectly fine, Lady Ann.” Morgana reassured, trying his best to come across as confidant and cocky as always; tone laced with a softness only reserved for her. “Go and find out where our leader is.” Ann nodded in response. “Did anyone ask about where Akira is?”  
Haru nodded. “Yes, he arrived here ten minutes before us. We asked at reception who managed to get hold of the Accident and Emergency department, they said triage got him straight into surgery; if all goes well he’ll be admitted to ICU.”  
“What floor is that again?” Ryuji asked, hating the fact he had forgotten.  
“First, we can take the lift.” Makoto responded.  
“Think they’ll just let use wait there?” Ryuji asked another question, in a way it helped to ease his anxiety.  
“They probably have a day room.” Haru replied, giving him a squeeze on his arm. Ryuji gave a grateful nod in response. Following Makoto as she led the group forward. Futaba fell back to walk alongside Yusuke, looping her arm around his, staying close to his side. He could feel her trembling, with a soft sigh he unhooked his arm from hers and pulled her against him; allowing her to wrap her arms around his waist as he securely wrapped his arm around her shoulders, providing a small amount of comfort amidst their anxiety.

 

The short ride in the lift was filled with a stifling tension, neither one of the teens saying anything, just listening to the whirring of the lift and the automated floor announcement. Looking forward, they exited the lift, looking to a sign giving directions to the different wards. Eyes drifted up to the overhead signs, footsteps fell without rhythm, echoing throughout the wide corridors; with each passing sign their steps sped up until they were outside the double doors of the ward.  
Anxiously they all looked at each other before Makoto pressed her hand against the door.

Locked.

“How’re we meant to get in?” Ryuji sounded annoyed, it was clear that his own worry had been bubbling up inside and he needed an outlet.  
“We’ll ring the bell, it is intensive care after all; visiting is very selective.” Makoto answered, trying to put Ryuji’s annoyance at ease.  
She pressed the buzzer next to the door, hearing a bell ring further down the ward. A few minutes later a nurse with short hair wearing a white tunic dress made her way to the door, steps hurried. She opened the door partway, an irritated look on her face.  
“Visiting isn’t until six ‘o’ clock this evening. Unless there is an emergency I cannot let you enter.” Her tone was harsh, her stare at the teens unnerving; this only added to the already tense atmosphere.  
“Do excuse us.” Makoto said evenly. “Our friend was brought in over ten minutes ago, we were told to come to ICU and wait for news.”  
“Name?” The nurse asked bluntly.  
Makoto startled. “A-Akira Kurusu, he’s in his second year of high school.”  
The nurse looked at Makoto, her eyes then wandered across the faces of the youths before looking up into a corner in thought. “Kurusu…” she repeated quietly. “Ah!” Her eyes lit up momentarily. “Please wait here a moment.” With that she closed the doors and hurried off back down the ward.

 

Ryuji kicked at the floor once more, bitterness seeping into his voice.  
“She didn’t have to be so snarky with us… even here we’re looked down on.”  
“She’s just doing her job.” Ann defended. “It is ICU, there’s probably loads of patients who need special attention.”  
“It’s likely she’s gone without a break too…” Yusuke murmured.  
“Seriously?” Ryuji sounded surprised. “What hours do nurses work?”  
“It depends on the shift.” Haru answered. “Some will work long days from eight in the morning until eight in the evening, but even then a lot of nurses won’t leave work until about ten. Others will work shorter hours, and some will work night shifts.”  
“Man… I had no idea… I guess some adults do have it rough…”  
“Nurses are often underappreciated for their work, I think it best that we be as respectful as possible towards them.” Yusuke added, a little more life in his voice.

The same nurse returned, holding the door open for them.  
“Follow me, I’ll take you to the day room. Your friend is still in surgery at the moment.” She appeared friendlier now, the teens felt a little guilty at jumping to their assumption that she was just another rotten adult.

They followed her in silence, some peering through the windows that offered a glimpse into the various bays of the ward; seeing so many people hooked up to IV lines and monitors did nothing to ease them. Quickly they filed into the day room that was quite sparse, chairs lined the walls and rows of them filled the centre, a table with a potted plant and some magazines sat near the door, a basic coffee machine in the corner, and various laminated posters about hygiene and etiquette lined the walls. The teens took their seats in the centre of the room, looking up to the nurse who waited for them to settle.  
“Has there been any news?” Makoto asked, hopeful.  
The nurse looked down and then back at them.  
“I’m sorry, I can’t share that information with you since he’s a minor. Does he have a parent or guardian at all around?”  
“His guardian was finding somewhere to park…” Ann replied, as if on cue they heard the bell for the door ring. “That might be him.”  
“Could I have his name please?”  
“Sojiro Sakura.”  
“Thank you.”

 

The nurse trotted off once more, once again leaving the group in silence; being on the ward heightened any anxiety they had; it was far too clinical for any of them to enjoy. Ryuji sat hunched over in the chair twiddling his thumbs, Ann had one hand in her lap as the other scratched at her head nervously; Morgana had poked his head out of her bag, ears drooped slightly as he felt the overwhelming sadness in the room, Yusuke was sat forward in his chair; fingers laced together pressed against his lips, Makoto had her arms folded tightly against herself, Futaba had brought her knees up on the chair; resting her chin on them, Haru sat with her legs crossed; hands in lap as she gazed at the different posters on the wall. 

 

They heard footsteps stop in the corridor, followed by hushed murmurs that none of them could make out, after a few minutes of indiscernible conversation Sojiro stepped into the day room. All of the teens looked up to him, traces of hope in each of their eyes; Sojiro sighed, pulled a chair up to be sat closer to them and took a breath.  
“Is… everything okay?” Ann asked the question everyone dreaded the answer for.  
Sojiro eyed each one of them, gauging the atmosphere before selecting his words carefully.  
“Akira, he…” He cleared his throat before continuing. “He’s currently still in surgery, they acted on him as soon as he arrived; it could be hours before we hear of anymore news… at the moment the surgeons are stopping the internal bleeding, they pumped more blood into him as well as some other stuff to keep his vitals up. Last the staff had heard on this ward was that he was breathing but his heart rate wasn’t stabilising.” Sojiro looked around once more, his heart felt heavy with the news he had just delivered, each one of the teens looked down to the floor; it wasn’t the news they had wanted, there was a strange sort of relief that the news hadn’t been any worse, but it certainly hadn’t been any better.  
“Is it possible that he…” Haru began the question, feeling too sick to finish it.  
Sojiro gave a heavy sigh once more. “It is possible… I know you kids have done your fair share of doing the jobs adults should do, but this time; trust in us adults to bring Akira back.”

 

Hours dragged on painfully, whenever someone looked up at the clock it was like the second hand bounced back ten seconds. It was agony.  
Ryuji had taken to pacing the room, unable to sit still for more than a minute. Ann was looking out of the window, watching as the final rays of sunlight hit the sky and the twinkling lights of Shibuya switched on. Yusuke and Futaba hadn’t moved from their seats, both feeling just as numb; Haru had moved to sit by Futaba, engaging in small conversation that was more one-sided than anything else; Futaba merely gave hums in response to Haru. Yusuke was no better for this, his responses were either low hums or one word replies. Makoto had taken to looking over various leaflets for twentieth time; the printed words no longer making sense.

 

What felt like another hour had passed, the sky was dark with Shibuya’s night life now in full swing. Still, the youths were waiting, for any kind of news; the suspense was slowly eating away at the little grasp of clarity they had.  
There were footsteps.  
Then a cough to draw their attention.  
“If you would kindly follow me.”  
In an instant they had all leapt up from their seats, following the nurse down the brightly lit corridor. Hearts thumping, the blood rushing past their ears; it was deafening.  
The nurse stood outside a closed side room door, one hand placed on the handle.  
“He’s not long been out of surgery.” She said gently. “Try not to make too much noise.”  
All gave a silent nod before she opened the door, stepping aside to let them in. One by one they filed into the adequately sized room that was illuminated by a single light; it gave an ambient feeling which would have been soothing, had it been under different circumstances.

 

All eyes fell upon the frail form of Akira.  
An IV line of blood and saline ran into a cannula in his hand, a heart monitor beeped a slow but steady beat, a breathing tube in his mouth going into his airway, hooked up to a machine; his chest rising and falling not entirely rhythmically but enough to ensure he was alive. His eyes were closed, he looked peaceful, despite the deathly complexion of his skin.  
“He looks… peaceful…” Makoto commented.  
“Indeed.” Yusuke said softly.  
Futaba crouched down onto the floor, grasping at her head; willing herself not to cry, Sojiro stood close to her as Haru knelt next to her, rubbing circles into her back. Ryuji chewed at his bottom lip nervously, whilst Ann looked down at the floor. Morgana hopped out of the bag and jumped onto the bed, gently walking around Akira and nuzzling his cannula free hand; Sojiro was going to remove Morgana from the bed but soon realised that that perhaps wasn’t the best thing to do right now. 

 

Footsteps were heard outside the door, Morgana scrambled to get back in the bag to remain hidden. A knock sounded at the door followed by a placid voice.  
“Excuse me.”  
In walked a doctor, her hair tied up in a tight bun, her white lab coat buttoned up with her name badge proudly displayed on the breast pocket.  
“I’m Doctor Hanae Kageyama. I’m the doctor assigned to Kurusu’s care.” She gave a bow to everyone present. Out of formality everyone gave their bows; some more informal than others which Hanae put down to stress and fatigue.  
“Doctor Kageyama, will Akira be okay?” Makoto once again asking the question no one wanted to.  
Hanae folded her arms and sighed.  
“Whilst the surgery was a success in stopping the internal bleeding and repairing the damaged tissue, it’s hard to tell just how much of a recovery Kurusu will make. His heart underwent a lot of stress in the time period between being transferred from Doctor Takemi’s clinic and here. We’ve put him in a medical coma for the time being to see if that will help.”  
“Why put him in a coma if you’re not sure if that will help him?” Futaba snapped, tears rolling down her face. “He could just die and it be because he was in a coma!”  
“Futaba…” Sojiro spoke softly to her but his voice was lined with warning.  
Hanae furrowed her eyebrows and gave a sad smile.  
“I understand your concern. If we hadn’t induced a coma his body would have been under too much stress, he would have been in a lot of pain upon waking up. The doctors and surgeons thought best that whilst Kurusu recovered, he be in a medically induced coma until such a time we can start to bring him out of it. “  
“And the ventilator?” Yusuke asked, surprising the others since he had spoken very little since leaving the Metaverse; he wore a tense expression.  
“A precaution, he was breathing on his own after surgery but we weren’t convinced it was safe enough to not ventilate him. This kid sure is a fighter, his heart stopped on the way here; thankfully the paramedics were able to bring him back in time for triage to take over,” Hanae looked over to Akira, a softer expression gracing her features. “I’m sure that with our medical team, and your support he’ll pull through just fine.”  
Yusuke’s features loosened a little, Hanae’s conviction provided him with a small amount of comfort. Akira wasn’t out of danger just yet, but Yusuke decided to trust Akira to the hospital’s care; he just hoped that Hanae was right.  
“When you visit him, do announce who you are and talk to him; tell him about your day, hold his hand. Each individual has a different experience when in a coma, some don’t remember anything, some can still hear those around them. It’s best not to leave him in silence. Now, I bid you all goodnight.” With that, Hanae bowed and left the room, leaving everyone to look to Akira again.

 

Silence once again fell across the room, eyes darted to one another and then back to Akira. One by one, each of the teens announced themselves to him, brushing their hands over his arm, others gently stroked his hair. Sojiro gave a gruff greeting followed by a softer statement of “get better soon, okay?”  
Yusuke was the last person to make his presence known, he walked over to Akira’s bedside; clasping his cannula free hand, lightly running his thumb over Akira’s hand.  
“Hey…” Yusuke’s voice was low. “It’s Yusuke, please, if you can hear me…” tears began to sting at Yusuke’s eyes, he tried to blink them away to no avail; voice cracking, “please, please wake up.”  
Another knot formed in everyone’s stomachs, Sojiro tentatively placed a hand over Yusuke’s shoulder; giving it a quick squeeze.  
Time passed far too quickly now that they all knew Akira was out of surgery. A nurse kindly reminded them that visiting was over and allowed them a few more minutes to say their goodbyes.  
Each one of them gave a personal goodbye to Akira.

“Please pull through.”  
“You’re our leader after all, you’ll be back to health!”  
“Come on man, don’t leave us waiting.”  
“I have every faith in your recovery.”  
“Please heal soon, Joker.”  
“I won’t forgive you if you don’t get better...”  
“Take your time, the café isn’t going anywhere.”

Yusuke again was the last one to part. Holding Akira’s hand, he leant over the bed railing and planted a tender kiss to his forehead, gently moving to place his own forehead against Akira’s as he spoke in a loving and poignant manner.  
“Rest well, my love.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit to the Velvet Room appears long overdue.

The feeling of cold iron against bare skin roused Akira from his brief rest. His eyes snapped open, only for him to be met with the sight of a dark, damp stone ceiling; he became acutely aware of how stiff his back had become on the wooden plank that served as a bed. Wearily, Akira hoisted himself from the bed, dragging himself over to the bars that kept him captive within his cell. His whole body ached through to his bones as he weakly gripped at the bars.  
Three sets of eyes fell upon him, their intense glares bore into him and Akira felt himself start to feel even smaller in the cell.

Caroline rapped her baton over Akira’s knuckles, causing him to hiss.  
“You incompetent fool!” She shrieked, “How could you screw up this badly?”  
“It is unfortunate that the Trickster has met such a fate.” Justine said solemnly, no longer looking at Akira.  
A low chuckle came from the centre of the room, Igor drummed his fingers on the ornate desk; his unnerving wide eyed grin sparked a glimmer of fear within Akira.  
“My, my, this is an unsavoury situation. You fell in battle within the Metaverse, and now your waking body deteriorates in the real world. Your rehabilitation will have to wait. Who knows how fate will play out for you.”  
Akira swallowed thickly, hands clenching at the cold iron bars trying his best to keep standing.  
“What should I do?” He asked hoarsely.  
Another chuckle escaped from Igor’s never moving mouth.  
“What happens to you now rests upon your body. A word of caution, do not lose your rebellious will, the place you will next be going is far more desolate.”  
Caroline whacked the bars once again, this time missing Akira’s knuckles.  
“Time’s up inmate!”  
“Perhaps you may overcome these circumstances.” Justine’s quiet voice added.

The cell surrounding Akira began to change, the walls began to warp and turn into black smoke, the sparse furniture had disappeared as the floor underneath him no longer reflected any light; a black void awaited him. Akira found himself unexpectedly falling, the chained weight to his ankle only aided his fast descent into the unknown. The light from the Velvet Room becoming smaller and smaller the further he fell.

 

Akira landed with a hard thud, he could have sworn he heard bones crack from the sheer force of the landing. The weight chained to his ankle had smashed into the floor, burying itself a few inches into the concrete.  
Painfully he sat himself up, observing his surroundings; it was much darker here, if he held his arm out he could just about make out his hand. The ground was hard and cold, pieces of loose concrete dug into the palms of Akira’s hands.  
“Where the fuck am I?” He mumbled shakily to himself, as the panic set in he found himself nervously cackling. “I’ve fucked up big time.”  
Desperately he scoured the area for some sort of answer, some sort of life, but his weakened form and the now immovable weight prevented any kind of exploration. With a resigned sigh he slumped onto the floor, looking up at where the light of the Velvet Room once shone.  
“Never thought it’d come to this…” Akira muttered bitterly.

Bitterly?  
That was new for Akira, especially in regards to Phantom Thief activities.

He shook his head trying to rid himself of the negative thoughts that began to pile in, some wishing he had never started the Phantom Thieves, some wishing he was sent to juvenile hall instead.  
“No… that’s not me.”  
Akira brought his hands up to his head, covering his face as he gripped at his unruly hair. The panic started to build up again, he felt his breath hitch followed by a light sob.  
“I can’t… no…”

 

Akira didn’t know how long he remained like that, he was only roused from his despair as chains clinked close to him. Akira’s head shot straight up as he looked ahead, dreading another appearance from Reaper.  
A familiar blue flame sprung to life in front of him, dancing wildly as its form shifted into the one being that could bring comfort to him at this moment.

“Arsene…”  
“You appear to have caught yourself in a predicament, young thief.”  
Akira gave a snort.  
“You could say that.” He looked up to Arsene’s giant form. “Why are you here?”

It was impossible to tell what Arsene was thinking, his face and voice gave nothing away, although Akira felt a slight sting of indignation from Arsene.

“As I have told you before, I will always be at your side.”  
“Even in death?”  
“Even in death.”  
Akira let out an oddly satisfied sigh. “At least I won’t be alone.”  
Arsene remained quiet for a moment, curiously watching Akira. “Do you remember the vow you made?”  
The question took Akira by surprised, he cocked his head to the side, a slightly peeved look graced his features.  
“Of course I do.”  
“Do you remember what made you want to take that vow?”  
“It’s not like I had much of a choice given the situation…”  
“You had every choice, had you declined the vow I would have simply disappeared, you and your friend would be corpses in that palace to this day.”

Akira’s throat seized up, making it difficult for him to swallow. He knew that Arsene was right, he could have walked away, but he knew that it would have been the worst decision to make.  
“I do remember…” He responded, voice strangled. “I remember those good for nothing adults getting away with what they pleased, simply because they had authority. It still enrages me!”  
“Good, I’m glad that your will has not died out yet.”  
Akira narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by ‘yet’?”  
“As it currently stands, you are neither dead nor alive. Your body is currently alive but your soul is drifting elsewhere. A limbo if you will. This separation of your soul and your body means that you are vulnerable to the plagues of humankind. Loss of will only ensures that death is met.”  
“I don’t even know how long I’m going to be here!”  
“All the more reason to not lose your will. The longer you stay here the more likely you are to meet your Shadow once more.”  
Akira audibly gasped, eyes wide as he stared at Arsene.  
“How-“  
“Does not matter yet. A word of advice, remember the bonds of your confidants; they will serve you well.”  
Arsene burst back into blue flame that slowly died back down, leaving Akira once again in darkness.

Akira once again dropped his head into his hands. For a moment he didn’t feel so alone, having Arsene there kept the thoughts at bay, but now that he was alone they only came back with a vengeance.  
He whimpered, gritted his teeth and scratched at his scalp; anything to make the thoughts disappear. The same feelings of hopelessness began to wash over him, closing his eyes he let himself fall back onto the cold ground; part of him thought that the floor would vanish again and he’d be falling in endless darkness.  
Opening his eyes he looked up at the infinite void above him, a few tears began to well up, before long they were escaping from the corners of his eyes and dripping straight onto the floor. Akira thought about his friends, how they must be feeling. His thoughts drifted to Yusuke which only pained him more, he opened his mouth to say something, although words did not follow, it took a while before he was able to say meekly. 

“I wish I could hear your voice again…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long to post and that it's not as long as the previous chapters. I've just started back at uni and I'm trying to figure out how my timetable will go in terms of projects, workshops, and additional modules. Not to mention that I've been feeling unwell for a few days following a new course of medication and I don't know how long this spell will last.
> 
> Either way, I'm still incredibly grateful for those of you that bookmark, leave kudos, and comment on my work! It gives me the drive I need to write more as I know people are enjoying the content I make, so, thank you for sticking around!


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